May
8
2009

10 Reasons why Ubuntu is a BIG Failure in India

Till today I have never been able to spread Ubuntu among my friends successfully.(I live in Bangalore and all my friends are Bangaloreans and Bangalore is known as the IT Capital of India.)Even though I installed Ubuntu for all my friends none of them actually used Ubuntu for more than a week.Some of them removed Ubuntu and flatly refused to use it again in future.Some of them used it occasionally to download stuff from torrents and to clean infected USB Drives.Based on their feedback ,I figured out why people(especially of India) are not too keen on using Ubuntu even if it is installed on their computers.

1)GRUB Boot Loader does not have an Aesthetic Appeal.

Ugly Grub

Ugly Grub

After installing Ubuntu ,we are presented with a Grub menu which displays about 5 options.The 1st option to load Ubuntu and the last option to load Windows.This menu has a black ground with white text.This menu does not have an aesthetic appeal and does not create a good first impression.Even though Grub supports eye-candy like custom background and coloured text,Ubuntu developers have chosen to ignore the Grub Menu.With a little effort ,the Grub Menu can be easily enhanced visually .

2)Login Screen-Users are required to type in their username.

Ubuntu Login Screen

Ubuntu Login Screen

The default login screen in Ubuntu requires the user to enter his Username and Password.Many people find this irritating.The login screen should display a list of Usernames by default.An average user will not try to find out how to change the behaviour of the Login screen.Instead he will simply say that Ubuntu is not good and will refuseto use it.So it is upto the Ubuntu developers to change the default behaviour of the Login Screen.

3)Desktop-The Refresh option is missing!

Ubuntu Desktop Right Click Menu

Ubuntu Desktop Right Click Menu

What does an average Indian user do when the desktop loads in Windows?He rights clicks on the desktop and refreshes the desktop about 5-6 times or until he is satisfied.This is a ritual performed by most Indian Users after switching on the computer and just before shutting down the computer.
When this average user tries to perform his ‘Refresh’ ritual in Ubuntu,he is in for a rude shock.The Ubuntu Desktop does not have a Refresh Option or any other simliar option like Reload in the Right Click Menu.
So I advice Ubuntu Developers to include to a Refresh or a Reload option in the right click menu on the Desktop and in the Nautilus File Manager.The option should be equivalent of pressing Ctrl+R.As of now ,pressing Ctrl+R refreshes the Desktop in Ubuntu.

4)Default Login Sound.
The default login sound in Ubuntu is not good.It has been the same sound for many versions of Ubuntu.The Ubuntu Developers should spend some time on selecting a better Login Sound.

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5)Default Wallpaper.
There are only 2 or 3 default wallpapers in Ubuntu.Ubuntu Developers should add some more visually appealing wallpapers related to nature,wildlife,people etc.

6)Default Audio driver is weak.
Quality of Sound in Ubuntu is never as good as it is in Windows.I don’t know what Ubuntu Developers can do about this,but this is one of the main reasons why people refuse to watch movies in Ubuntu.The sound effects are absent.

7)Totem Movie Player sucks

Totem Sucks

Totem Sucks

That’s the general opinion of many users.VLC Media Player or Mplayer would have been a better choice as the Default Media Player.

8)Right Click-Send To :Options are missing.
The right click menu should have a Send To option with options to send files to the Home Folder or Removable Disk or a blank CD etc

9)Silverlight-Moonlight.
People in India are crazy about Cricket.The Indian Premier League live videos are being streamed at livevideo.iplt20.com using Microsoft Silverlight Technology.Ubuntu fails here.Inspite of installing Moonlight – Open source alternative for SilverLight,live videos cannot be viewed in Ubuntu.The development of Moonloght is way behind Silverlight.
Ubuntu Developers should include Moonlight by default.Even if Live streaming is not possible,other SilverLight Enabled Sites can be viewed using Moonlight.In current Ubuntu version none of the Silverlight Enabled sites can be viewed.

10)Safely Remove USB Drive or Unmount Volume
Many people do not know how to Safey Remove their Usb Drives in Ubuntu.They are not aware of the Unmount Volume option in the Right Click Menu.So they simply pull it out.This leads to loss of data if writing process has not been completed.
So the Ubuntu Developers should rename the Unmount Option for USB Drives to Safey Remove USB Drive.An icon should also be displayed in the taskbar to Safely Remove USB Drive.

I hope Ubuntu Developers ,GNome Developers and other Linux Developers read this and make changes in their Linux Distribution.Hopefully by the next Ubuntu Release,I should be able to spread it successfully among my friends.

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About the Author: Bharat Balegere

Bharat Balegere is a 27 year old blogger from Bengaluru. He is a technology enthusiast and loves tinkering with computers and usb drives.

192 Comments + Add Comment

  • Most of what your are Suggesting is WRONG Because Ubuntu is not Windows
    you want Ubuntu devs to make Ubuntu behave like Windows and that just don’t cut it , look at OSX its totally different from Windows yet a lota people uses it.
    People need to accept Ubuntu for how it is an that is Ubuntu is LINUX not a WINDOWS CLONE

  • I agree with all your arguments except :
    1. Moonlight. While I can certainly understand the Indians’ obsessions with cricket, there is a covenant of patents that you need to agree to. You can add it later if you want but even for Windows you need to install the stuff…I don’t see a problem there
    2. Sound/Audio is bad – Well my PC and lappy on Ubuntu is my primary source of leisure. I have watched countless DVDs and AVIs. I do not see a reason to say it is bad. It is infinitely more than just bearable.

    Most of the features you asked for is based on the argument, it’s available on Windows but why not on Ubuntu….well…Ubuntu is not Windows. If Ubuntu is to copy every single feature of Windows so that it is more like Windows, I will most assuredly say to you that Ubuntu will alienate most of its users.

  • dont you think this is a little superficial?
    your operatng system evaluating parameters are a little shallow maybe?
    please give us something more substantial to debate.

    cheers

  • Regarding #3: Just tell them that the option to refresh the desktop is missing because it isn’t needed. On the extremely rare occasion that something crashes and leaves the screen a mess, F5 will refresh the desktop and put things in order. Otherwise, refreshing the desktop 5-6 times in a row directly after login does absolutely nothing in Ubuntu.

    Regarding #10: If you yank a USB drive out of any machine before unmounting it, you run the risk of corrupting the filesystem. And all of the operating systems will warn you. This is not something that’s unique to Ubuntu in any way, it applies to Windows and OS X as well.

    It sounds like many of these reasons simply have to do with habit or taste. People are loathe to change that which already works for them. It’s the same here in the U.S. If your friends and family are already used to Windows and don’t have the patience to try a new operating system, then for goodness sake, don’t force it on them. And as for the ones that are genuinely interested in trying it out, you have to make sure they understand that Ubuntu is similar to Windows in many ways, but there are some differences that they may have to adjust to. If they comprehend this, then (and only then) are they ready for a test drive.

  • I just want to point out that refreshing the desktop does nothing in Linux, so why would you add a button to do… uhh… nothing?

    Totem sucks because the restricted stuff isn’t included by default which is for legal purposes. If you really want a pre-installed system, go with Linux Mint.

    Moonlight is way behind Silverlight because Silverlight is developed by Microsoft. This cannot be helped. Support Flash.

    The Safely Remove Hardware thing really bothers me. Why change the terminology just to sound like Windows? Safely Remove Hardware doesn’t really make any sense, and users CAN simply remove it if it’s done writing. The issue is that users need to be educated. There is a learning curve with any OS. Different is not worse.

    Hell, even OS X calls it “Unmounting.” So maybe it’s Windows that should change. Hmm?

  • linux isn’t a windows wannabe. it is your failure to learn how linux works rather than than the Os that made your friends also failed to know linux. Do you really think that ubuntu needs to add the so called “refresh” just for the sake of Indian ritual? I think the Indians are already hypnotised by windows and its your job to wake them up.

  • Most of the reasons are ignorance on part of the user and not a Ubuntu drawback in general. I use Ubuntu in India, for basic tasks like web surfing, etc. and its much easier and faster in Ubuntu than in Windows. Though Windows will remain the default OS for development, but I guess Ubuntu is catching fast. Most of the Microsoft new OS are junk and won’t work on old hardware commonly in India. Most of the user base in India uses XP, and Ubuntu is certainly much better than XP.

  • I strongly hope developers don’t change any of those. It looks like your fellow users in your country just don’t need Ubuntu, or Linux, or any operating system other than Windows, and the next thing they ask is to run *.exe files. Linux (or Ubuntu, for that matter) is NOT a free Windows clone, so if someone is too ignorant to learn a new operating system, why does (s)he need it in the first place?

  • sounds to me microslop has brainwashed most of your country’s computer users,
    i have been using various versions of Linux and some UNIX systems since 1999 , i think you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make them drink , so just enjoy using Linux and let the winslop users suffer until they cant stand it anymore then and only then will they see the light !! i have pretty much settled on using ubuntu 8.10 alternate version and fedora 10 , i like security and these allow you to encrypt the home folder and swap on install .
    http://ftp.osuosl.org/pub/ubuntu-releases/8.10/
    http://fedoraproject.org/get-fedora.html
    i tried the ubuntu 9.04 but there is a problem with the encryption on swap

  • WOW, what a list of 10 utter crap reasons. Please know what you are talking about before trying to write an article on the internet. I don’t even know where to begin….
    1. Do you know you can change the ‘aesthetic appeal’ of GRUB? Do you know WHY the default is the text mode?
    2. How about enabling auto login for your friends?
    3. I don’t even know what to say about this one!

    .. I could go on and on. For instance do you know about Moonlight? (http://www.go-mono.com/moonlight/)

    Please don’t bash ‘Indian’ users or even bring in your country in your posts.

    The real point is your ‘friends’ are looking for Windows in Linux which simply isnt going to happen. The fact that they’re programmers and they don’t like Ubuntu is really sad – and speaks a lot of the quality of techies in our country.

  • Those people that are not using Linux ( Ubuntu ) because of those “10 reasons”…..have MISSUNDERSTOOD the entire FOSS philosophy and thereby
    DESERVE to continue using the M$-GARBAGE :-)

  • #7 and #10 I can understand. #9 is pathetic but possibly true — I don’t allow even Mono anywhere on any machine I am responsible for, but I agree I am in a minority.

    The rest of the reasons are meaningless. I have converted quite a few people, and it takes more than being a techie to convert someone. I guess we all develop our own styles of evangelism, and perhaps mine just happens to work better by chance.

    Most of the people I have converted now use Windows only for some games like NFS or RR. All other stuff (especially anything that connects to the net) they use Linux.

    Of course, I’m a hardcore Mandriva user, not a Ubuntu user, and I do spend a bit of time customising the install to their liking, and I also spend time explaining some of the differences and why it is the differences that make Linux what it is.

    Sita

  • addendum to my previous comment: all the people I speak of are NON-techies. Three of the most ardent Linux fans are kids (6yrs, 7yrs, 14yrs).

    Techies who use Windows are beyond help. Don’t waste time with “techies” like that unless their work **requires** Windows.

    And I forgot to add: your reason #3 is pretty ridiculous — I’ve never seen anyone hit F5 on a desktop the way you describe.

  • I use opensuse for some years now, have tried ubuntu, which is also a good distro. Although I understand other user’s comment that linux is not windows, it is good to think about the user himself as well. I can agree with most of the list, actually, I think in opensuse the users are displayed in the login screen, but it could very well be my personal settings. I don’t see that many problems with that security wise, and I am very security minded with several encrypted parts of my system etc. A good password is still much better, not knowing a user name doesn’t stop that many people.
    A refresh option is available in KDE, and an option to safely remove usb drives as well, so other distro’s do have some of these options available, so why not in ubuntu, most are not a big deal, except the proprietary software, I would prefer opensource and try to stay away from closed source as much as possible, but who can? (flash, etc)
    Let’s listen to users, it’s important for linux!

  • Well, refreshing desktop, boring grub compared to what do you call that interesting thing on win32 to pick OS to boot into? To me win32 version of grub looks about the same as Debian one. Nice story. What percentage of population of India we are talking about? Do all of them work for MS? Are you witting under influence?

  • This is the most ridiculous post I have ever read on Ubuntu.You call yourself a techie but your concerns are trivial and mostly to do with GRUB screen, login sound, wallpapers etc. ALL of which can be customizable. Heck, thank the developers that GRUB even allows you to change the background image. The last time I saw the windows NT native bootloader, it did not even have the capability.

    Seriously if this is the level of techie-ness you show(like bothering about trivial issues rather than core technical issues), then I am really sorry for you.

    Criticizing Ubuntu(or any Linux distribution for that matter) is ok because these criticisms enable Linux to improve in general.

    But what I DO NOT support is installing Linux, and then EXPECT everything to behave like windows and then BLAME Linux for not being user-friendly even when those expectations are misplaced or downright illogical at the first place.

    You installed a different OS, remember? What’s the point of installing a different OS when you want the same behavior(read that idiotic behavior) at the first place?

    Face it, you have become so much used to the idiocies of Windows(your comment about the ‘desktop-refresh’ shows that clearly) that when things are done the way they should be done, you feel out of place. Years of using Windows has its toll on you, unfortunately.

    I am not even going to put a point-for-point rebuttal for your absurd observations even though I could do it. But let me instead begin by pointing out some idiocies of windows instead. And remember Linux does not even try to emulate those:

    Q1. What kind of stupid OS would ask users to debug a crashed application?
    Ans:Windows does. Linux, on the other hand simply creates a core dump and asks you to send the core dump to the developers. But of course, the idea of what a core dump is, might be totally lost on you.

    Q2. What kind of stupid OS asks you to reboot everytime some new driver or new system update has been applied?
    Ans: Windows does. Linux, on the other hand can do everything on the fly.

    Q3. What kind of stupid OS limits itself to one desktop?
    Ans: Windows does. Linux, on the other hand with its Gnome and KDE comes with as many as 32 separate desktops for better productivity.

    The list is endless but unfortunately I lack the time to list all of them down here.

    And lastly, in case you want to advocate Linux in your area among your friends, please do not do a disservice to Linux by trying to compare it with widows or by seeing how it fares up with windows users’ expectation. Instead, advocate Linux for Linux’s sake by pointing out the good features.

    I know you have the power to moderate this comment and make sure that it never appears on this blog, but my main aim is to reach out to you and make sure you understand.

    Hope I succeeded.

    regards,
    Seemanta

    ~seemanta

  • Came on, Come on…. This is Linux not Windows. So please if you want to use Windows then do so. On the other do take some time to get to know the system before complaining while trying to use it as a windows surrogate.

    After all I don’t hear people complaining that a BMW car is no good because the nobs and switched are not in the same place as a Ford.

  • I am Indian who has been using Linux since 1999, this author is on steroids… and does not know how “Indians” use the PC or for that matter Linux.
    10 reasons given by this author are absolutely moronic reasons…
    because….
    My 12 year old nephew happily using Ubuntu Linux even though he was Windows user for almost a year before I recommended him to use Linux
    The same story with 8 other relatives of mine. All are happy users of Linux.

    Another great linux story is : A 17 year old college student from a remote village in Tamil Nadu, who happens to be my Uncle’s son, was using Windows for about 2.5 years now. When I recommended to him to use Linux (Ubuntu) he asked if there will any virus issues with it. I told there are no viruses in Linux , immediately his face lit up and the following day he took my help and installed Ubuntu 8.04 on his PC (pretty old P3 intel pc) . After installing Ubuntu he was eagerly exploring all the menus and questioning how to do this , that..etc. And now it been a happy Linux user for 10 months…

    My sister runs a small company which has 11 PCs of which 8 run Ubuntu , 2 runs Fedora and 1 run Windows… She uses windows in 1 PC because she has to deal with some customers who send certain windows docs which are don’t open properly in OpenOffice.

    There are many such users in India…So author please do your homework before commenting on things in India

    In India Linux is pretty popular and few state governments (such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu etc) have made it mandatory to use Open source application and Linux.
    One of the state govts distributed CDs with Linux and OpenOffice about a year ago. Many indian Languages (Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Kanada etc) are well supported in Linux.
    So I think any flavor of the Linux will be successful in India !

  • Not sure why the grub menu is showing up. That is not normal behavior.
    The other issues are comparing Ubuntu to Windows. Ubuntu is NOT Windows nor would it ever want to be windows. So the refresh issue is moot – kind of useless because what you see is what you get in Ubuntu – you don’t NEED to refresh anything.

    If you don’t like what you see – submit bugs (feedback in appropriate places). Go to launchpad.net and submit all of this feedback.

  • The author raises some valid points, especially Totem which is the worst movie player I ever used anywhere.

  • Hey, the reason the refresh isn’t in Ubuntu is because I think Windows has a patent on it. I think they also have a patent on too many backgrounds. Oh, have you paid Microsoft for using the air that they just put a patent on?

    Get real – if you’re going to comment about such stupid things go back to using Windows.

  • please can explain to us the refresh mystery issue seriously dude nobody understood that

  • Ubuntu should also add a Windows Logo for Bangalore folks so they are more at home

  • I have been using Linux since 2006 and I don’t feel like going back to windows at all. In fact every time somebody asks me to work on windows, I take my bootable flash drive and use linux instead. Btw, I am sorry Bharat Balegere, we dont have Norton Antivirus for linux as well. Looking at your post, you might add that as a problem as well. :P

  • It’s about time time you realize Linux isn’t Windows and hopefully will never be.

  • Have to say, I have read many articles on this subject, this has to be the most ridiculous.
    Next you will be complaining because there are no viruses!!!

  • I am not agree with you, the reason is you really don’t know how to use Linux, Actually How to customize it your own.

  • 1)GRUB Boot Loader does not have an Aesthetic Appeal.
    Remove windows from your computer and GRUB’s menu will not be required.
    Or help improving Open Source GRUB project to look like “Apple’s boot loader”

    2)Login Screen-Users are required to type in their username.
    This is for security reasons, but you can also configure Ubuntu to start without login screen if you feel save.

    3)Desktop-The Refresh option is missing!
    Refresh option ? For what ? Ubuntu’s desktop refreshes by itself.

    4)Default Login Sound.
    Well, change it for another sound. You can also create a sound and share it with other users.

    5)Default Wallpaper.
    Well, I recommend you http://www.gnome-look.org in Spain we call it “Vas a flipar”.

    6)Default Audio driver is weak.
    Everyone talks about Ubuntu sound but sincerely I have no kind of problem. What do you mean by weak ?

    7)Totem Movie Player sucks
    Use VLC, go to Add/Remove… some people think this is the best player for Windows, OS X, and Linux but on Linux is very easy to install.

    8)Right Click-Send To :Options are missing.
    The right click menu should have a Send To option with options to send files to the Home Folder or Removable Disk or a blank CD etc

    9)Silverlight-Moonlight.
    Ask “The Indian Premier League” to use a format according with indian market, OGG for example. Maybe they are receiving help from Microsoft in order to control the future of Indian market, are you sure you want to be part on that game ?

    10)Safely Remove USB Drive or Umount Volume
    Please, Windows way is not the way to do things. You have plenty of options to umount devices, use them 2 times and you won’t like Windows way any more.

    Spread Ubuntu as it is, of course it will improve, but maybe your friends will like the way it is now. Why do you think you can understand new features but they can’t.

  • Sorry, about the 8 option:
    8)Right Click-Send To :Options are missing
    You can send to a ‘Blank CD/DVD’, anyway, … this is your opinion. “Send to” and “Create file” on GNOME are better (this is my personal opinion). Other people will have other opinions.

  • @linuxsysconfig

    They are not Linux specific, most of them are Gnome specific.

  • Jajajajajajajajajajajaja

    man your post is hilarious, wuhahahahahah
    refresh, refresh, refresh, refresh!!!!

  • I used to be a Windows Administrator for an agency in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and had to use Windows on my servers (except for the firewall) and the desktop supervisor said we would never go to Linux for desktops because it would put most of the desktop team out of a job because everything would work.
    I’m disabled now, but the agencies that are holding all kinds of data on you are on a Windows server most likely – now how do you feel about that?

  • Ha ha you are funny! I am not crazy about Ubuntu but I wish you’d mention some of the assets of the Operating system. If in India people are rich and don’t mind paying 400$ US more or less for Vista Ultimate be my guest.

    I for one own a fleet of Mandriva Power Pack computers and they they are workhorses and very easy to use.

  • one word: KDE4

    you are definitely the kde type

  • I ROFL’ed when I read the 3rd point :). Although it might seem idiotic to many people, but you are bang on the buck there. I have seen 99% of people around me do the refresh thingy..Heck, even I do that when I am on a Windows workstation at work.. :P

  • Sir,

    I’d suggest that you go and try a different route. You’re not suited to be a Linux/Ubuntu user or IT specialist, even being from the Bangalore region.
    I’ve encountered a few Indians/Pakistani/Bangladeshi working in the software industry and they are all lacking a lot on skills coming from their “highly praised” Indian engineering Universities…

    Best regards

  • To all the people wondering why the desktop refresh is so necessary, I think the author is very clear on that:

    “He rights clicks on the desktop and refreshes the desktop about 5-6 times or until he is satisfied.”

    Satisfaction. Whatever works for you, guys. You might want to try a good cup of coffee instead.

  • You want a list of users to choose from ? Lets say this machine is connected to an actual Enterprise Environment, would you like to display a list of 10,000 users, or maybe, perhaps, just type in your username…..
    What a bullshit article…

  • @ Pippa, please don’t generalize all the Indians by this post. I am an Indian working in Pune and I’ve been using Ubuntu for last year and a half (after getting fade up using RedHat/Fedora for a good 6-7 years) and am pretty happy with it. I don’t quite believe Ubuntu is a failure in India. In fact, looking at my desktop (which is Ubuntu 8.04 and has Compiz, some screenlets with Mac4Lin), many of my friends have started using (at least trying out) Ubuntu. So I believe this post is purely from the Author’s personal perspective and we don’t need to associate country, region, religion etc for it. After all Ubuntu is Linux For Humanity.

  • I don’t think we should crucify the writer. He is just saying why it is a failure. Of course, there are ways to make it look good – but an average user will not know that. Even in the US, less than 1% of the population probably uses it.
    Other points – I have seen several times (playing games etc)that I need to go for the power button to reset the PC. I can not remember doing that on Windows XP. Why is that if Linux is so stable ? How can a misbahaving progam bring down the PC ? And show me one user that is happy with Flash – flash sucks big time. CPU goes on a high pitch in no time. You can blame adobe or whatever or ask me to go back to Windows. But that is the point why users shy away.

  • Looks like a brain-dead post.
    I am indian, I don’t remember refreshing the desktop 50 times when I used to work on windows.
    User listing is a security hole, though it can be enabled.
    As others put it , a load of crap.
    Why don’t you do something better and fix a few pending bugs in debian/fedora/ubuntu?

  • Just your friends don’t use or dont know how to use Ubuntu it doesn’t mean it’s failure, may be your friends too much addicted to Windows.

    Who needs nice interface on boot loader?
    Refresh on desktop? Why do you need some windows stuff forced to Linux.

    I’m sorry to say that what you figured out is some pathetic excuses not to use Linux. It’s looks like the only OS you know is Windows and you dont want to come out of it OR you don’t know much abouot OS and Linux.

  • So, to summarise; ‘booo hooo Ubuntu isn’t exactly the same as windows….’

    If you want everything to be just like Windows, why don’t you just use Windows? You may have a couple of valid opinions (about Totem etc) but if you just want to watch movies out of the box Mint is the way to go. As for the petty moans about grub, logon names (login names are there for a reason), and the (truly stupid) idea to implement a right click refresh for no apparent reason I’m just left shaking my head…

    We should be celebrating the differences that sets Ubuntu apart from Windows, not striving to replicate it’s faults.

  • I think this guy is a lunatic and no idea about Ubuntu linux he mentioning above
    details…

    He doesn’t know
    to change grub picture
    to install different GDMs
    to get bulk of video and audio players and to install drivers
    and to do anything in linux………..

  • You are boasting of your IT education and IT industry but you people only know
    theories not basic computer skills nor common sense.

    That’s why you do whatever the outsourced companies want to do,
    That’s why developed countries outsource their IT projects in your country because you never question………..

    Narrow minded…………

  • Reasons 1-3, 5, and 8 have no effect on usability and are only lame excuses not to give linux a try.
    Reason 4 is something I don’t know much about.
    Reasons 6,7, and 9 are why linux will never be a mainstream desktop os. Since windows operating systems are the most popular they have the most development done to them so they have the best drivers, and work with more software, there will always be properiatary software like netflix for instance that will never be licensed for linux and why whenever I use any linux distribution it will always be on a old computer or in a duel / triple boot system.

  • Most of your points seem to be small (one might almost say, nit-picky) objections to minor features of the user interface. Ubuntu has some much more significant advantages over Windows:

    1. It is a free, no cost OS, equal in reliability and features to Windows
    2. It is user-configurable to your preferences
    3. Free applications programs through Synaptic
    4. Immune to Windows viruses and malware

    Ubuntu is also an excellent alternative to Windows if you are given a second hand computer and need to do a clean, legal OS install on it.

    When you look at what it costs to own a personal computer, a significant portion of that money goes to the cost of Windows, antivirus and applications programs. Some people might choose to use that money for something else, and for them, the minor points you raise might not deter them from giving Ubuntu a try.

    Linux is not for everyone. You do need to have a bit of an inquisitive nature, and be willing to step out of the queue of Windows users. Perhaps you aren’t one of those people. However, if you are, I can assure you that Ubuntu is worth the effort.

  • Ubuntu, as do all other Gnome based distributions allow for all the complaints you raised. There is the option to display in multiple ways, a list of logon id’s and let the user choose. Everything that you complained about has a DEFAULT value and it is up to you to revise.

    Too bad you did not take the time to explore.

  • I am agree to you on some extent but I don’t think Ubuntu is a failure in India. In my organisation we have successfully replaced almost 75% computers to Ubuntu and in the progress of replacing others. There are some issues but people are happy overall. If Ubuntu will be same as Windows than what is the need for Ubuntu?

  • Tha article is pathetic. You just expect ubuntu to act like windows without any learning curve. You represent the average Indian user though. Most so called tech gurus here are idiots with little computing knowledge.

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